The University of California at Berkeley took a dive into the Web 2.0 world with Wednesday's launch of a program that offers entire course lectures and special events on YouTube to all Internet users without charge. Users can view more than 300 hours of videotaped courses on topics that include bioengineering, peace and conflict studies, and physics, the university said. Moving forward, Berkeley said that it will constantly expand its catalogue of YouTube videos.

"UC Berkeley on YouTube will provide a public window into university life - academics, events and athletics - which will build on our rich tradition of open educational content for the larger community," said Christina Maslach, UC Berkeley's vice provost for undergraduate education, in a statement.